Fun banana packaging is winner of PIDA Sweden 2019

Packaging Solutions

For the 15th year in a row, the Swedish edition of PIDA – Packaging Impact Design Award, was held in Stockholm, and this year, sustainability and recycling were in focus. The students presented creative and fun ideas on how to package clothes, beauty products and confectionery in a more environmentally friendly way. And the design that had the best concept according to the jury, was Bois Underwear, made by students from Nackademin.

‘It feels great! We wanted to do something different but didn’t know if we took the concept to far. I think we won because we stuck out. We didn’t go for a Scandinavian minimalist design, instead we went all in with colour and shape,’ said Natasha Bosnjak who together with her classmates Alicia Lundgren and Christian Koch won the Gold award of PIDA Sweden 2019. Their design is now qualified for the European final in Monaco this autumn, which will take place atLuxe Pack.

This year’s brief was ‘Bring the future’ and the students’ challenge was to develop a sustainable packaging concept for the year 2030. This year, the jury looked at the innovation, sustainability, user friendliness, concept and communication of the contributions. Bois received high marks on all points and the students were praised for their creativity, the strong communication and sense of humour. According to the jury’s chairman Isabelle Dahlborg Lidström, the Swedish contributions held a high standard all around this year.

‘There was a high level of creativity among the designs this year and all the packaging was well made. The students have really thought about what products are suited for sustainable packaging. It was also fun to see the high level of their videos which give a good, clear description of the packaging projects.’

In addition to the PIDA Gold Award, winners were elected in three more categories. The prize for the Highest Level of Innovation went to Deep from Nackademin for sustainably, but still with a focus on visual appeal. Winner of Highest Level of Sustainability was Björke, also from Nackademin, which had a clean and simple design that aims to shorten the production chain and provide a more sustainable product for the consumer. Winner of the Highest Level of User Friendliness award was Ocho from Linköping University, for its way of challenging e-commerce to use more sustainable alternatives.

‘More and more consumers want to actively contribute to a sustainable future, and this will place even higher demands on climate-smart packaging. I think that this year’s contestants have embraced just that,’ said Sophie Lindhe, brand project coordinator, BillerudKorsnäs.

The international competition PIDA is arranged by BillerudKorsnäs and is carried out in collaboration with leading universities and colleges in Sweden, the UK, France and Germany. Each year, over 200 design students participate.

In this year’s Swedish edition of PIDA, Mid Sweden University, Nackademin, Brobygrafiska and Linköping University competed.

‘With PIDA we achieve several different purposes at the same time,’ said Anders Gathu, marketing manager at BillerudKorsnäs. ‘We aim the spotlight on the importance of packaging for brands, consumer benefits and the environment. We want to shine light on the young talents who will become tomorrow’s packaging designers and bring them together with industry professionals. By offering a meeting place for ideas, innovation and inspiration, we help push industry development forward.’